J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by J2SkiNews

One of the most successful ski racers of all time, America's Lindsey Vonn, is expected to return to World Cup ski racing this coming weekend when two super-G events are staged at St. Moritz. She has previously won the same races five times.

Now 40 years old, Vonn is placed third for World Cup wins on the all-time list, with 82 wins, just behind Sweden's Ingemar Stenmark on 86. Fellow American racer Mikaela Shiffrin has 99 wins, having passed Vonn since the latter's retirement.

Vonn retired more than five years ago after competing in the Alpine Skiing World Championships at Are in Sweden, but has been teasing a return since last summer. Austrian ski resort Solden issued a press release in October saying that Vonn would compete in the season opener there, but it didn't happen. However the U.S. Ski Team have confirmed she will race in St. Moritz.

Vonn earned enough points to be able to compete at World Cup level by taking part in a series of lower-level competitions last weekend in Copper Mountain, Colorado. She was also a forerunner at Beaver Creek for World cup races there this weekend and winner Italy's Sofia Goggia credited advice from Vonn after she talked to her following Vonn's run, for her victory.

There have been some huge snowfalls over the weekend right up North America's West Coast.

Ski areas in California appear to have done especially well, posting 36 hour accumulations of up to 48" (four feet/1.2 metres).

The snowfall caused some logistical issues with access roads temporaily blocked and lifts closed, in part due to low visibility with gale force winds bringing blizzard conditions at times.

The snowfall continued right up the West coast with Whistler Blackcomb in BC reporting over half a metre of snow. Access to it from one side was cut off by a land slip at the weekend however.

Inland, Revelstoke has now passed the 4 metres snowfall-this-season to date mark. That's in line with the wider Pacific Northwest region of North America posting the most snowfall of anywhere in the world at this early stage of the season, which fits with earlier La Nina winter weather predictions.

Less heavy snowfall, but still 6-18" accumulations were reported further inland in the Northern Rockies in states like Utah and Wyoming.

The snowfall is now starting to ease and sunny skies are expected from late Monday on.

The world's steepest cable car up to Mürren in the Swiss Jungfrau region has officially opened.

The new direct connection between Stechelberg and Mürren was officially opened with a VIP ceremony attended by 600 guests that also saw the first section of Switzerland's first Funifor cable car between Mürren and Birg will go into operation.

The opening marks the completion of the first major construction phase of the SCHILTHORNBAHN 20XX project: the opening of the new direct connection between Stechelberg and Mürren.

It is the steepest cable car in the world with a gradient of 159.4 per cent. The classic aerial cableway connects the valley floor with the car-free mountain village in just four minutes via the vertical walls of the Mürrenfluh.

It climbs a verical height of 775 metres on a journey of almost 1194 metres. The two cable cars from Carvatech in Oberwies, Austria, have space for 85 people or 6.8 tonnes of cargo. 800 people per hour can be transported at full capacity.

A striking feature is the very long suspension arm of 11 metres, which was essential due to the extreme gradient. The AURO system (Autonomous Ropeway Operation) aerial cableway with constant monitoring by cameras and sensors enables autonomous operation without personnel inside the cable cars and stations.

A fully automated loading robot takes care of freight logistics. Transportation of luggage and cargo are synchronised with the passengers in a container attached underneath the cable car.

The Funifor cable car on the second section between Mürren and Birg is the first cableway of this type in Switzerland.

During the winter months, both the old and the new cableway will operate side by side on this section to guarantee the transport capacity during the ski operations. The opening of the second Funifor track is planned for November 2025.

The two tracks with the exceptionally wind-resistant cable cars, each designed for 100 people, will be mechanically independent. In the event of an inspection, one carriageway will be shut down while the second can continue to operate.

This enables operation 365 days a year, making the maintenance breaks a thing of the past. During normal service, the two tracks are electrically coupled, so the cable cars are operated as a 'classic' pendulum aerial cableway.

It's not just the cableways that are unique, the stations also have their own special features. The bright copper façades that surround each station are striking. The same goes for the finger docks on the mountain stations, which protrude outwards on concrete V-supports and thus provide an unobstructed view of the surrounding mountains.

Another special feature is the visible cable car technology, which is modelled on the old Gimmelwald cable car station. Due to a lack of space and the steep angle, the guide wheels were placed outside the station on the roof in the 1960s. This character has now been transferred to the new stations. Another unusual feature is the fact that the cable car at the Stechelberg station does not exit the station at the front due to the steepness of the cable car, it exits and arrives through the roof. All the buildings are characterised by clear lines of sight, a uniform lighting concept and clear, concise guest orientation.

Operations on the top section between Birg and Schilthorn have been suspended since mid-October. The first track of the new cable car - also a Funifor - is scheduled to go into operation on 15th March 2025. The second track will follow in spring 2026, completing the project.

After the success of their collaboration with toy brand LEGO last winter, Austria's Ischgl is stepping up the partnership for 24-25.

Among other things, visitors can look forward to the highlight of a world record building project on the Pardatschgrat, a charity campaign, interactive building activities in the Silvretta Therme and LEGO-themed experiences for the whole family in ski school.

The LEGO® World at Ischghl's Pardorama mountain restaurant on the Pardatschgrat is the centrepiece of the activities. A construction project running all season through to May will see visitors help build a replica of Doppelmayr's 3-S Pardatschgrat A2 gondola from LEGO bricks and thus become part of a unique world record.

In addition to this project, there are other building activities on the programme such as building a piste basher machine and a snowman out of LEGO elements. In addition to the large construction projects, the popular Make & Take tables are set up in the Pardorama, where families and LEGO fans have the opportunity to create their own small constructions and take them home as souvenirs.

There's also a "Build to Give" campaign, a global initiative of the LEGO Group, that focuses on making a positive difference through creative building. With the collaboration in Ischgl, participants can build hearts with LEGO bricks at home or in the Pardorama mountain restaurant in Ischgl and use them to take part in the campaign online. For each heart, the LEGO Group will donate a set to children in need. In addition, Ischgl will donate nine summer holidays to needy families. This initiative runs until Christmas.
Another highlight of the co-operation is the transformation of Ischgl's ski school grounds into LEGO® City. Here, children have the opportunity to learn how to ski through play in a wintery LEGO world.

"This unique concept combines winter sports with the creative world of the LEGO brand and ensures that the ski school area in Ischgl will become a centre of attraction for families in winter 2024/25," a resort spokesperson said.

Cold weather following fresh snowfall delivered by the northern end of Storm Darragh at the weekend has led to Scottish ski areas to announced early openings this week and two mote considering following suit.

The Lecht announced first that it will open this weekend, then Glencoe decided to open from today.

"Skiing is from the Rannoch Chair. Early season conditions but lovely soft groomed snow. The Low Rd has good snow cover on the top 90% (2 or 3 groomers wide), bottom section is thin and narrow," a Glencoe spokesperson said, adding, "Weather looking good for the next 3 days before milder, windier weather makes its presence felt on Sunday. If you want to get some early season turns in then Thursday, Friday and Saturday will be the days to do it as no guarantees we will still have lift assisted skiing by Sunday,"

The Lecht says its doesn't have enough snow cover to open any main runs but will open a small snow area for beginners and others at its base thanks to its all-weather snowmaking machines.

The same machines have been working flat out at its neighbours Cairngorm and Glenshee, with the latter saying it is considering opening earlier than its previously announced 21st December, Christmas week opening (the same as Cairngorm's) and will make the call on Friday.

Nevis range earlier said it is struggling to finance opening after years or limited skiing being possible due to climate change. It won't open until the February school holidays, a spokesperson said, unlessx there's a large natural snow build up to justify doing so.

It does not have the same all-weather snowmaking machines as the other four centres having invested in a different system which has unfortunately failed to work.

Ski resorts in the Pyrenees are scrambling to open as much terrain as they can as fast as they can following big snowfalls over the past few days.

Ski centres in the region had hoped to start opening more than a fortnight ago but dry weather conditions and temperatures too warm for snow making prevented that until now. That unfortunately meant Spanish areas missing key public holidays at the start of this month.

Resorts across the region have reported up to 60cm of snowfall so far with the snowfall expected to continue to Wednesday/ Thursday.

The region's largest resort, Andorra's Grandvalira, has already opened with around 15% of its slopes available initially. There's about 50% of runs open already in Pal-Arinsal.

Spain's largest area Baqueira Beret plans to start opening from Thursday and Cerler, among others, on the 13th with most of the rest targeting this weekend for their season starts.

The weekend snow storms across the Alps have started to add up to some significant number, heaviest in the west.

Accumulations of around 75cm on high slopes over three days from Friday to Sunday were reported by a number of French resorts including Val d'Isere and Val Thorens.

Val Thorens is also the only resort to have posted more than a metre (105cm) of snowfall over four days.

It's not only French ski areas though, Italy's Madonna di Campiglio has posted 72cm of snowfall over 72 hours, with Austria's Stubai glacier posting 65cm in the same period. In Switzerland Verbier posted 50cm over the weekend.

Most areas have seen at least 30cm (a foot) of snowfall.

It's now turning drier and sunnier from the west before snowfall is expected to return at the weekend.

Over 100 ski areas have now opened in Austria including most of the country's larger centres. And whilst this weekend has seen the 3 Valleys open its sectors, plus connections between Tignes and Val d'Isere link up for 24-25, and other giant areas like Italy's Via Lattea (Milky Way) open, joining other big areas like the 4 Valleys, it's in Austria where the main battle seems to be to open the most terrain as quickly as possible.

Seven of the top 10 resorts posting the most open terrain in Europe are in Austria, with Ischgl taking the top spot with 160km of slopes already. Almost all of the seven have 100km or more of slopes open already.

Interestingly, the Austrian areas have managed to open large amounts of terrain below 2,000m altitudes despite much of the autumn snowfall being at higher elevations. It appears cold temperatures have allowed snowmakers to create valley runs.

Currently though its below zero degrees down to sea level and snow is falling to valley floors across Austria and mountains across much of Europe.

Besides Ischgl, 2025 Alpine Skiing World Championships hosts Saalbach Hinterglemm (pictured above this weekend) are in 4th place with 120km of slopes open and newly opened Mayrhofen is in fifth with just a few kilometres less.

Solden, St Anton, the Skiwelt and Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis are in 6th to 9th spots with 93-106km open a piece.

With Christmas week less than a fortnight away it seems certain that areas in France, Italy and Switzerland that have more extensive terrain than any Austrian centre will move to offer more runs, but for now Austria continues to leads in terms of number of centres and terrain open, as it has all autumn to date.